The $30-billion Aditya Birla Group on Tuesday announced that it completed acquisition of Atlanta-based Columbian Chemicals Company, subsequent to having obtained all regulatory approvals in seven different jurisdictions.
Aditya Birla Group acquired Columbian Chemicals in January this year for $875 million, making it the world?s number one carbon black producer, with a combined capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum. The group has formed the new board for Columbian Chemicals chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group. Other directors from the group include Rajashree Birla, Rajiv Dube, Santrupt Misra, DD Rathi and Kevin Boyle, CEO, Columbian Chemicals.
Kumar Mangalam Birla, said, ?We view the carbon black business as a significant global business in our portfolio. Columbian Chemicals? excellent R&D capability, multiple speciality products, customer connect in North America and South America coupled with committed teams, will add to the strength of the carbon black business. Likewise, our strength in scale economies, managing large capacity plants and managing multiple emerging markets will be leveraged.?
The Aditya Birla Group is among the most cost efficient manufacturers of carbon black. It is a global provider of high quality carbon black additives that cater to the requirements of leading tyre and other rubber manufacturers. Its products also service the ink and plastic segments. ?With this acquisition, our global footprint now spans 12 countries ? India, Thailand, Egypt, China, USA, Brazil, Korea, Spain, Canada, Hungary, Germany and Italy, where we collectively have 17 state-of-the-art manufacturing units. The deal helps in giving us a foothold in the mature market of North America and strengthens our position in Europe and in emerging markets,? said Santrupt Misra, CEO, Birla Carbon and director, HR of the Birla Group.